Sizzling eats, the Super Bowl, & Star Struck memories

HEY!!! Life truly feels like it’s been going > 100 mph this past two weeks. So. much. good., but SO much busy. I am coming to the realization that this may be the beginning of not blogging as frequently 🙁 Currently all my energy is being directed into memorizing the information in this little fellow…

But whenever I do have the time, you can bet I will be catching up with ya’ll! I’ll still try to at least do update posts for the rents’ back in Ohio and Texas 😉 No worries, Mom(s), I’m not throwing in the towel yet!

So going waaAAaaaAAAyy back to February 1st! The night of my interview we met up with my brother in San Francisco. He lives in Ohio, but visits occasionally for work. It was much needed, especially to keep my mind occupied with awaiting “the decision” (barely more nail-biting than Bron Bron’s in 2010).. My sports junkies know what I’m talking about. Anyway, we met up at Osso in SF. It supposedly is the “greatest steakhouse” in the US. We justified the dinner by saying it would be a combination of getting the interview over with/potentially getting the job/belated birthday/”my bro’s in town” celebration. It was wonderful getting to catch up with my brother, even if briefly. We tend to see each other during the holidays or when I would stop by his house briefly in college, so having a quiet dinner just the three of us was a treat! Also, I think I can finally explain his complicated job title with confidence. The best part was hearing about the milestones my sweet niece is making and about how my nephew is becoming more and more engaged with the world around him brings me joy upon joy.

Fun fact: I think I have a dress that matches this floor. Let me see if I can pull it from the archives.

There it is! Who wore it better? Me or the floor? (This picture is from a cruise my mom, sister, and I went on together a few years ago).

Now let’ s talk food…

Bread. Their bread costs 0.99. Yep, ninety-nine cents. We couldn’t figure this one out- but hey, if they want to nickel and dime us, that’s their business (literally). Worth every single cent.

MUSSELS! The butter madeeee these suckers. Get in mah bellyyyy.

Their “famous” asparagus soup. If you like asparagus, you will like this- super creamy and savory, but strong on the asparagus flavor.

Scallops– melt in your mouth. BUT I will say I like Farallon’s better!

I didn’t bother the boys for a picture of their steak. They said it was tasty, but a Fleming’s or Ruth’s Chris cut was better.

Conclusion: Come for the swanky, Gatsby ambiance, and great food- but don’t expect the absolute BEST steak of your life.

Thursday we went over another couple’s for dinner. My friend, Danielle, is known for her superb home baked bread. I am actually salivating thinking about it right now.

She also made us lamb! I don’t usually eat meat, but I definitely had to try a bite of this. It was some of the most tender meat I have tasted. I haven’t had a real bite of meat in years, and if I was going to have some, I’m glad it was her cooking! The couscous and vegetables were cooked to absolute perfection. We had such a great time just chatting and are hoping to take a trip to Napa all together soon in the future!

Friday I played catch up. I didn’t sleep at all that week and the house reflected my chaotic, non-focused state of mind. I did laundry, cleaned, responded to e-mails, and just tried to get a list together of everything I had to do. Deej and I went to Barnes and Noble AGAIN in the evening. Second time in like a month that we spent our Friday night looking through books. But gosh, we LOVE it. He found one he is already almost finished up with, and I scoured the shelves for a Neurosurgical Nursing book.(I didn’t end up finding any great ones, but Amazon came to the rescue 😉 ).

Saturday morning I made Deej some chocolate chip pancakes and I made my banana oatmeal ones!

I squeezed in a nice long run and then and then we went to one of our FAVES- Cheesecake Factory! One of the guys DJ works with got us a gift-card as a congratulations. It was the nicest thing. I was blown away. We couldn’t let that burn a hole in our pocket for long! AMIRITE?

Naturally— BREAD on BREAD on BREAD on WINE

I love love love their tuna tataki salad. I usually like to try different entrees at restaurants, but I have a hard time veering from this one. Their vegan burger is amazing though too!

I definitely underestimated the vanilla bean. DJ and I both couldn’t get over how scrumptious it was. Several of you commented on one of my posts saying it was your favorite, and I was insistent that we had to get this. Jennifer in particular sold me on this gem! You guys did not lead us wrong! Another fun fact: I prefer my pieces of cheesecake frozen.When freezing the vanilla bean, the crust and cheesecake combo reminded me of cookie dough. MMM mmm mmm.

After Cheesecake factory we walked around the mall for a little bit. They have a store called LoveSac. They have overly massive bean bag chairs basically and “sactionals” . Lol. The play on words.

Sunday- C H U R C H. I’ve never really mentioned it before, but our church has it’s own brew of coffee called Apostle Coffee. So even if you’re not a church person, come on in for a great cup of joe (newcomers get theirs for free!) 😉

In the afternoon I prepped for the Super Bowl! I’m sure many of you saw my loaded nachos recipe last week! I also made a margarita pizza for DJ for lunch, took beers and also Boom Chica Pop to the party. No one knew the difference! I’m telling ya- Boom Chica Pop is bae. <3 It’s better for you, but is absolutely delicious!

I went to the Super Bowl party of a married couple friends of ours (Tammy & Ben). (DJ went immediately to his family’s, but I did halvsies in both places!)

Are they not the most amazing hosts ever?

Also this turkey….

And this beef… I told our host, Ben, that I don’t eat meat but this was making me rethink my decision!

Catching Tammy in action!

Monday and Tuesday I had to prep a ton of documents for the new job and start planning for orientation (all that jazzy jazz). Wednesday night I went with a few girlfriends Blue Mango for some sushiiiiiii!

I liked the ambiance of this place. Service was horrendous, and they automatically include your tip on the bill (which explains the service). It took us probably a half an hour to even order then another 40 mins to get our food. BUT sushi is always worth the wait, isn’t it?

Have you guys ever seen a sushi roll like this?! It was a fried dragon roll. I’ve never had “warm” sushi before, but it was insanely good. I need to take DJ to try this sometime!

Here’s another look up close in case you missed it 😉

We then headed to Club Rodeo in SJ for a country concert!!! Chris Lane was the main performer proceeded by Russel Dickerson.

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​I can’t emphasize enough how much fun we had. It was a blast. I am thankful to have found an awesome group of girls that I click well with too.

Best part? Running into Ben Zorn from the Bachelor. HOLLAAAAAA. Night made. Also Clare was there (from Juan Pablo’s season), but she took off before the concert was over.

All that food look suuuper delicious! You definitely have had an eventful week! If you like Boom Chicka Pop you haaave to try Skinny Pop in Jalapeno flavor. It is my FAVE, and during undergrad I was notorious for carrying a whole bag in my tote and pulling out the whole bag to sit on random benches. Congratulations to you on the dream job, and have a great weekend!

AHHHH I neeed to try the jalapeno flavor!!! I love skinny pop but have only tried their white cheddar and regular! THAT SOUNDS SO GOOD. And bonus points for making that great of a reputation for yourself 😉 That’s amazing, hahah. Thanks for stopping by, Chrissey! I hope your weekend finishes up well and you have a great start to your week!

Aww, of course! I’m so glad it was a good one!!!! And DJ recently has been reading more business/ leadership related books! And THANK YOU! I will be definitely doing my best to keep this up and running 🙂 Have a great week, Aunt J.!

Your food pics! Oh my lanta! I am looking at my smoothie I am drinking right now and it is pitiful!
I love that you guys go to B and N. I love bookstores. I love studying in Bookstores. I love smell the books in bookstores. I love everything about a book store! and B and N is one of the best. Definitely a perfect way to spend a Friday!
Oh my gosh I Love Love Sac. My friend and I may have had an impromptu photo shoot here when we were killing time during our friends weeding week. Lol.
Your friends just set major hosting goals for the rest of us! 🙂
What a fun concert and girl your outfit is amazing! Love that jacket! Hope you have an amazing weekend! <3

Hehe I bet that smoothie is delicious!!!! Sounds soooo refreshing! Bookstores are the best!!!! I’m glad you are with us on that one 😉 I love that you had the photo shoot- wait did you post it?! I am so very far behind on blogs but I’ll have to go check! And right ?! They went ALLLLL OUT for the SB party- I was just storing up ideas! And thank youuuuuu! Whenever you compliment my outfit it makes my day because …. hello, you’re the fashion queen 💁🏼 Hope your weekend was absolutely wonderful 😘

HAHAH! Thank you!!!! So glad you think so. It was some tough competition! And that’s hilarious!!!! I have e sort of seen them here and there but I didn’t realize there was an actual store that sold just tons of them. Too funny!!

Pfftt, you wore it better by a landslide! But Osso does win for the best most savory looking scallops. They just opened up a Ruth’s Chris in one of the office buildings near me, I had never heard of it till then but everyone was ecstatic when we first found out it was there. Also, speaking of food, I’m so sold on the vanilla bean cheesecake. The moment you described the texture, I texted Andrew saying we need to go to The CheeseF in the very very near future….”tonight can we go?!” LOL Barnes and Nobles twice in 1 month, so jelly. I told Andrew that if we get a new place it HAS to be within a very close range to a B&N…and Target. But thats a given lol all the best xoxo

GIRL. ! The scallops were flame 🔥! And for any special occasion Ruth’s Chris will NOT disappoint ! It’s incredible! Tell me you tried the cheesecake?! I’m so anxious to hear your thoughts!!!! And thank you for your support in our. B and N trips hhaha . You rock 👊🏻. Oh and yes- target is a MUST! They almost shut the one down near us but last minute kept it open- thank goodness . I would have gone into a depression I think. XOXOX

Good Grief! Why did I read this so close to lunch?!?!? Now my stomach is howling at me thinking I’ve forgotten all about it and will NOT be satisfied with my little chicken caesar salad.. :(….. all those dishes look delish!

HAHAHA! Since I’m so very delayed to answering this comment I hope you were able to have a great lunch! Lol. We certainly had some yums that week! We always joke that we are “eating our way through California”! I hope you have an AWESOME weekend, B!

Rach, I SO appreciate you stopping by. I know how busy you are, girl! It means a ton!! And we had so many yums at that place!!! The scallops were fantastic and sushi is the way to my soul hahaha. (That might be a good tshirt idea?!). The coffee is super good! If you are in the Bay Area on a Sunday I’ll get you a free cup! Haha. And the concert was seriously one of the best I’ve been to. I loved the more intimate concert setting for it! I hope you have a beautiful weekend, dear! Xoxoxoxo

Awww thank you for the birthday shoutout!! You don’t know how much that means to me, even if this is a late post reply lol!

Apostle Coffee’s handy chart illustrations of their coffees is a really good idea! I kind of wish more cafés did that for customers to understand what they’re ordering!

Super Bowl…I was actually really rooting for the Falcons because, as a lifelong Colts fan, I despise the Patriots. They’re gross. Brady is definitely one of the greatest QBs of all time though, no doubt.

That neurology text books looks like absolutely no fun lol! Maybe it is for you? Either way, I am still so happy that God has given you your dream opportunity after so much waiting and patience! 🙂

Aww of course, Michael!!!!I hope it was a great one!!!!! I always have loved that sign too and finally took a picture to share- I agree! Such a fun idea ! And sorry about the SB hahah. Always next year , right ?! Haha now I’m just being annoying! I was semi cheering for the Patriots but was the ONLY one at that party. And the neuroscience book is super fascinating but super challenging information! I’m just trying to take it little by little! Thanks for all your encouragement ALWAYS! It means tons!! Have such a great weekend!!!

You have been busy! All of that food looks sooo good!! I would wait for sushi forever! I love it! I have never tried warm sushi either, but maybe I need to now. Now I need to go find a snack. All the food pictures made me hungry! 🙂 I hope you have a great weekend!

Hey girl! Ahhh it’s been SO busy lately. I’m so behind on blogging and reading blogs it’s making me so sad! I think the warm sushi roll is the dragon roll at most places ? Or lion king? Either way it’s delicious and serves on foil like a burrito ! SO GOOD! Hope you have the best weekend, Tara! I can’t wait for things to calm down so I can stop by your blog and catch up 🤗

Hi Kenz, I’m so sorry that I am so late in reading your super bowl and etc fun times, but now that we are in Texas at your Moms I can relax abit. Sounds like you had a ball with’friends and of course all that great food. Mussels are one of our favorites and the asparagus soup sounds wonderful and all the different meats and yes, for you having some and finding out that meat is good and good for you. All your food , I could smell it as it looked so good☺ It was a real treat to see it all!! Hope your ear problem is better. You don’t need with you getting ready to go to work. Ear problems seem to want to hang around way to long. Hope DJ is enjoying his job. Goodness He was fortunate and so glad he is enjoying it. Take care honey and God bless you xxx & hugs Gramma and Grampa​